I opted to watch the sunset from an upstairs window rather than do my dog walk in the windy cold dusk. Afterwards I headed to the studio to retrieve a few things, walking in the dark without a light. Walking without a light allows my eyes adjust to the subtle differences between tree and sky, my feet feel for the difference between gravel and grass, and my memory searches for the fabric of specifics and generalizations.
After my dad died we had a lovely, emotion-filled dinner at Omen Azen in NYC. One of the things we did was to spread white chrysanthemum petals on the dark table in his memory. Last week our emotions sang in a different direction at Omen when we had a dinner to celebrate our daughter Zoë and her new husband Mike. This time we spread beach rose petals that I had gathered each day on my island summer walks, meditations on the daily nature of love.
To Know the Dark
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without light,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
--Wendell Berry
After my dad died we had a lovely, emotion-filled dinner at Omen Azen in NYC. One of the things we did was to spread white chrysanthemum petals on the dark table in his memory. Last week our emotions sang in a different direction at Omen when we had a dinner to celebrate our daughter Zoë and her new husband Mike. This time we spread beach rose petals that I had gathered each day on my island summer walks, meditations on the daily nature of love.
To Know the DarkTo go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without light,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
--Wendell Berry
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